Campaign Optimization Checklist & Troubleshooting

While running TikTok ads, you might have some questions about how to optimize ads. So check out Campaign Optimization Checklist & Troubleshooting for further details.

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Campaign Optimization Checklist

If you are newbie and want to get good results on TikTok ads, watch out the checklist of 4 criteria below:

Audience

With some first ad campaigns, you should start with broad targeting. Put less constraints to increase exploration of difference audiences.
Let TikTok’s algorithm find the best audience for you to achieve.

Budget & Bidding

On the campaign level, set No limit on budget
Adopt low cost bidding strategy to maximize conversions
If using Standard Bid (w/ Cost Cap), bid 30% above minimum suggested bid
Your ad group daily budget should be minimum 20x of CPA bid.
Increase your bid will directly boost your ad ranking and increase delivery
Avoid frequent (1-2 days) edits to your budgets and bids as this impacts how the ad group delivers.

Note: Learn more about budget best practices.

Creatives

For the first campaign, it’s recommended to use no more than 5 ad creatives
Update your creative at least every 7 days to keep your creatives fresh.
When adding new creatives, add them to an existing ad group to extend its lifetime.
Make sure your creatives meet our video ad specifications and image ad specifications.
DO NOT:
- Use the same creative across multiple ad groups
- Use the same creative throughout the whole campaign
- Delete creative during learning phase

Note: Learn more about creative best practices.

Destination page

As we may know, the destination page can be a website, landing page, or product page that viewers will be directed to when they click on CTA button in your TikTok ads. If you run Conversion ad campaign, make sure your destination page is well set.

Ensure TikTok pixel and events are implemented correctly on your page
Check if your website loads fast and is user-friendly or not
Check if the landing page resonates with the creatives or not
Your checkout process should be smooth and frictionless

Troubleshooting

Why my ads does not deliver?

There are top 5 reasons for no delivery issues:

Zero balance in ad account
Campaign / Ad Group / Ad Status in review or rejected
Campaign / Ad Group is out of budget
Ad Group Schedule is in the future
Selected campaign period on dashboard is unaligned with campaign run dates

Top 3 Reasons for Under-delivery Issues:

Ad Group is still in the learning phase
There is not enough audiences to target
Your ad doesn’t rank high enough (Low eCPM)

Why can’t I target a specific market in the ad group section under targeting?

Based on where your business is registered and which placement you select, targeting locations may vary. Learn more about placements and locations for a list of available targeting based on your region.

How do I identify whether an ad group has passed the learning phase?

Achieving 50 conversions is the most significant indicator of passing the learning phase.

Why has my ad group not passed the learning phase?

If an ad group finds it difficult to obtain at least 20 conversions within the first 10 days, there is a high chance that this group will not pass the learning phase.

If you did not pass the learning phase, try one of the following:

Optimize creative
Broaden target audience
Increase bid
Switch optimization preference to “optimize clicks at the learning phase”
Select an upper funnel event, like add to cart or product page view as you conversion event.

Why is my CPA high?

Managing expectations.
- Has my ad group passed the learning phase of 50 conversions at the ad group level?
- Have I given it enough time to learn?
- Tip: Do not run campaigns over short 2-3 day periods as a gauge of CPA. It is always recommended you run for at least 7 days
- Am I looking at CPA for every 10 conversions instead of every day?

Do I have the right pixel setup for longer attribution?

Am I comparing it against other channels that are different from TikTok?

Run basic checks to make sure account settings are in place.

Mobile site is loading ok
- No issues with pixels and events tracking
- Bid is competitive (if using cost cap)
- Multiple creatives uploaded

Campaign settings. Answer these questions below:
- Have we selected the right goal? Consider starting with a middle funnel goal for trickle down effect.
- Have we tested other targeting/ bidding strategies?
- Are we following the recommended best practices?

Why can I not spend full campaign and ad group budget?

Check the following reasons to debug why campaigns/ ad groups are not spending:

Does the account have sufficient funds?
Have we maxed out the campaign/ ad group budget cap?
Are all ads active/ running – was anything rejected?
Is there any day parting in place?
Is the audience broad enough – do we need to include more age bands, interests, remove custom audiences?
For decline in spends:
- Is our bid competitive enough?
- Did the pixel drop off resulting in 0 conversions and therefore lowered CVR?
- Did we make any recent significant changes?
- Should we refresh the creatives?